Our Crazy Family
by StoryTellerMax
Summary: Sequel to 'Our Secrets'. Cuddy and House get to know their daughter while dealing with their new roles in life. They also must deal with the expected arrival of their new baby. **Added Author's note**
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Our Crazy Family  
 **Category:** Romance, Family, Angst  
 **Rating** : M  
 **Setting** : Alternate season 3 and onwards. It's really its own universe

 **Summary:** _Sequel to 'Our Secrets'. Cuddy and House get to know their daughter while dealing with their new roles in life._  
 **Disclaimer:** I do not own any rights to the TV show House MD. Nor do I own any rights to any idea 

**Authors Note:** _This story is a sequel to my other story 'Our Secrets'. I strongly suggest that you go and read that one first for this one to make sense. This first chapter takes place basically straight after the final chapter of 'Our Secrets'. Hope you enjoy._ ****

 **Chapter One**

House sat at a table in the hospital's cafeteria with a Reuben sandwich in front of him. Sitting opposite him was Max. Cuddy's assistant, and his daughter. His and Cuddy's twenty-year-old daughter. House still couldn't believe it yet here she was, sitting right in front of him eating a plate of chips.

"Shouldn't you be eating a salad or something?" He asked her. "What kind of girl are you?"

Max smiled and bit down on a chip. "The kind that puts taste before looks. Not that it makes much difference to me."

"You've got good genes," House smirked, wiggling his eyebrows slightly.

"Is that your way of taking credit?"

"Yep," House said as he reached out and stole one of her chips.

Max didn't seem to care and instead leaned back in her chair and continued eating.

House watched her carefully as he went back to eating his own sandwich. Even though he'd only known her for a few days…or well, knowing she was his daughter for a few days (he'd actually known Max for several months now) it felt like he had always known her. He couldn't explain it. It wasn't something he could rationalize in his own mind but it was what it was.

House suddenly noticed a few hushed voices and whispers coming from people around them. He narrowed his eyes and glared at an orderly who quickly looked away and tried to pretend that he hadn't just been staring.

Max looked at House and frowned before she turned to look at some people around them.

"Guess there's some new gossip around," Max muttered.

House turned to her, "You bothered by it?" He asked.

Max thought for a moment and chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully. Then she shook her head quickly. "I guess I kind of expected it would happen. I mean it's not every day they see the grouchy head of diagnostics having lunch with Cuddy's lovable, extremely pretty, smart and best assistant ever." She paused and smirked.

"Yes," House sighed and rolled his eyes "Cause that's what they're talking about. Us having lunch together."

Max leaned closer to him and replied in a lower voice. "What else would they be talking about?...Unless someone's already told everyone that I'm actually your daughter. Add that to the fact that there are still rumors going around about you and Cuddy's pregnancy…."

"Kay, I get it." House sighed in agreement.

Max sat back in her chair and flicked her hair off her left shoulder. "I wouldn't have thought the gossip mill would bother you so much." She stated.

"It doesn't." He replied. "But it's not just about me now is it?"

"Aww" Max gasped dramatically and sarcastically as she placed a hand over her heart.

House rolled his eyes again.

The two of them continued to eat their lunch and talked about trivial things while ignoring the looks and whispers happening around them. It was clear that Max's identity was no longer a secret. Not that they would have been able to keep it a secret for long after House's team had found out. As for Cuddy being pregnant and her baby being House's, well that secret was out as soon as Cuddy had fallen in his office and there was no point in trying to deny it now.

House just secretly hoped that the rumors would die down eventually and that everyone would just get bored and find something else in their lives to talk about.

"You know," Max began thoughtfully. "Now that I'm not preoccupied with keeping a big secret anymore, I think I might ask Chase out."

House coughed a bit as he was mid-bite into his sandwich when Max spoke. After a few spluttered half chokes, he managed to swallow and after he had he narrowed his eyes at his daughter in annoyance. Max was laughing, clearly enjoying the response that she got.

"You are not going to ask Chase out," House said firmly. "And if he asks you out you will say no."

"Geez, I'm sorry," Max said in a sarcastic tone as she rolled her eyes.

House had to admit to himself that she looked so much like her mother when she did that.

"Did that sound like I was asking for your permission?" Max continued. "Cause I really wasn't. You do know you can't stop me from dating anyone."

House glared at her in response and Max just smiled back.

"That look might intimidate others…it won't work on me."

House's expression soften and he had to fight within himself not to smirk proudly at her. There weren't many people who could go toe-to-toe with him in a sparring match of words and wit. Actually, there were probably two people in his life. One being Wilson (though not too often) and the other being Cuddy. Now he could add Max to that list. Which shouldn't be surprising? After all, she was Cuddy's child. Well, his and Cuddy's child. If anyone was going to have a chance of besting him in any way it was going to be her.

Before House could say anything he was interrupted when Cuddy herself walked over to them. Cuddy was smiling, still blissfully happy about having Max in their lives. House didn't even think the gossip, whispers, and various looks were getting to her.

"Hi," Cuddy said as she sat down next to Max. "Are you two busy?"

"Yep," said House, waving a hand at his almost eaten sandwich. "Absolutely swamped."

"No," Max said quickly. "Why?"

"I've just got off the phone with HR," Cuddy explained. "We have a meeting with them in half an hour."

House let out a long low groan of disapproval.

"That was fast. You'd think they'd at least wait a few days for you to get settled after falling." Max said. He voice had a hint of annoyance to it. She folded her arms over her chest.

"Actually," Cuddy began. "I called them and asked for the meeting."

"Why?" House groaned again.

Cuddy turned to him and looked at him with a serious expression. "Because I want everything out in the open. I don't want to have to tiptoe around waiting for the board to do something because we've lied about all this."

"How is it their business?" House asked.

"Because I run this hospital, and you're one of my employees. There's actual policy in place forbidding such…relationships. We were going to have to see them eventually. I just moved things along."

"Do I need to go?" Max asked.

Cuddy turned to her and sighed softly. "I'd like you to be there. I think if we all go we can just get everything sorted more quickly."

"Yeah, of course," Max said with a nod.

"Okay, well you two have fun—" House began to say as he pushed his chair back and stood up.

"-You're going to House," Cuddy told him.

"-But mooooooom!" House moaned.

In front of him, Cuddy gave him a stern look while Max was grinning in amusement.  
 **  
To Be Continued…**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** _Hello. I am still sort of away but I wanted to post this quick chapter for you. I wish you all a safe and happy new year, and I hope you continue to enjoy my story in 2018._ ****

 **Chapter Two**

Cuddy and Max stood outside the office of Human Resources waiting for House to show up. Cuddy began tapping her high heel foot on the ground impatiently.

"He'll be here," Max assured her as she leaned against the wall.

"He better be," Cuddy mumbled in reply.

Just then they heard footsteps and the distinct sound of a cane tapping on the ground and coming towards them. Both women turned around and saw House making his way towards him.

"Cutting it a bit close aren't we?" Cuddy asked, her arms folded across her chest.

"Hey," House huffed faking being hurt. "I made it didn't I?"

"Barely," Cuddy sighed.

Cuddy then turned and opened the door before walking into the HR office. With the door still wide, House reached an arm out and held the door opened. Max looked at him and grinned before she stepped under his arm and followed Cuddy.

'May as well get this over with' House thought to himself before he followed them.

 ** _**House MD**_**

They had been sitting in this meeting for fifteen minutes and House was already totally over it. Cuddy had explained (as professionally as she could) that she was indeed pregnant as the rumours suggested, and that House was the baby's father. She also explained and her and House were not currently in a romantic relationship, to which House gave a quick nod to confirm.

House's own mind raced a little when he heard the phrase _"not currently"_ come out of Cuddy's mouth. He was sure it was just a slip on her part and that she didn't actually know what those words could mean.

Cuddy had also explained that Max was also their child and that she would continue to work as her assistant until she decided to do something else. The head of human resources seemed less interested in Max and more interested in the 'relationship' between Cuddy and House.

"So, how would you describe the exact nature of the…ah, relationship?" The HR represented asked.

"Complicated" Max scoffed while trying not to laugh.

House couldn't help but smirk at how honest and yet ridiculous the answer was. He looked at Cuddy from the corner of his eye and noticed that she was giving both him and Max a look that said 'be serious'. House's smirk faulted slightly.

"Well," Cuddy began, trying to be serious and professional. "Dr House and I are colleges. We're – " She paused and looked at him briefly before saying "-Friends." She quickly turned back to the HR representative and continued. "Yes we are having this child together and we will be raising her together as well."

"Hhmm," The HR rep murmured as he wrote something down on a legal pad in front of him.

House leaned to the sighed and dramatically whispered loudly to Cuddy, "Speak slowly now. He's writing it down."

Cuddy rolled her eyes and kept talking. "I believe that I can still supervise Dr House effectively. But I-We want to follow hospital policy to the letter."

"You understand that this is a very…complicated situation that the hospital is now in." The HR rep explained. "Our concern is to make sure there's no conflict of interest. No liability for the hospital."

Max leaned back in her chair with a look of amusement on her face. "You think one of us is gonna sue the hospital if things don't go our way?"

The HR rep shook his head slightly, "I know that none of you are going to sue because we are going to have relationship contracts drawn up."

"Um, that's a bit personal and incredibly intrusive don't you think?" Max snapped.

"The contracts won't have intimate details or anything." The HR rep replied quickly. "We just need to make sure there won't be any favouritism towards Dr House – "

"Does that mean Cuddy has to have a baby with everyone?" House asked, raising an eyebrow. He turned to Cuddy and added, "You're going to be so sore!"

Cuddy narrowed her eyes at him before turning back to the HR rep.

"I promise not to give him a raise or a promotion of any kind," She said and right now, with House being a slight pain, she actually couldn't have meant it more.

"Or bias against him." The HR rep added.

"So, she can't give me extra clinic hours because I slept in one morning?" House asked, looking from Cuddy to the HR rep. "Awesome!"

"That's not what he-" Cuddy began to say with a look of irritation.

"No, no." The HR rep said quickly, shaking his head. "The hospital is more concerned with Dr Cuddy firing you without justifiable cause."

"You're kidding right?" House asked as he turned quickly to look at the HR rep. He raised one eyebrow and had a dumbfounded look on his face. "If it was up to you guys I probably would have been fired long ago. Cuddy's the only reason I'm still here."

"House," Cuddy warned, looking a little startled.

House wasn't looking at her, and instead had his eyes trained on the HR representative. House had all but admitted that he owed his job to Cuddy. That was something he would never admit too. At least not to Cuddy herself.

"I'll have the contracts drawn up and sent to each of you before five o'clock." The HR rep announced. "That's all. You may go"

Cuddy and Max slowly stood from their chairs. House remained seated with a mock pout on his face.

"Awe," House sighed sarcastically. "But I was having so much fun."

Max opened the door and turned to House with a smirk, while Cuddy glared at him.

"House, now!" Cuddy snapped.

House turned to the HR rep with an expression that said 'Ah oh' like that of a dog in trouble. He then quickly stood and followed Cuddy as she left the room. Max walked out close behind them.

 ** _**House MD**_**

"Well," Max began. "I guess that wasn't so bad." She shrugged and turned to Cuddy and House.

House looked annoyed at having had to sit through such a boring and pointless meeting. While Cuddy looked nervous and was wringing her hands together over her stomach.

House turned to her and let out a short sigh. He should have known that she would take this more seriously than needed.

"It'll be fine." He said softly but firmly.

"Yeah," Max agreed with a nod. She paused and placed a gentle hand on Cuddy's forearm. "All we gotta do is sign some forms. I think we got off lightly."

House turned to Max and smiled. Then he looked at Cuddy and saw that she smiled back but her heart wasn't in it. She was still worried.

"Cuddy?" House began.

"It's fine," Cuddy said with a sigh. She shook her head and did her best to put her 'professional mask' back on. "We better get back to work, and you should get back to your case." She told House.

House opened his mouth to say something but Cuddy was already walking away. Instead, he shook his head before turning to look at Max.

"I'll look after her," Max said reassuringly.

Max gave House a quick knowing nod before she turned and walked quickly so that she could catch up with Cuddy. House watched them go and then gripped his cane tightly before heading towards his office.

If the hospital and their stupid contracts put unneeded extra stress on Cuddy and the baby, he was going to be very pissed, and he would not be making things easy for the hospital big wigs that's for sure.

 ** _**House MD**_**

It had just turned six o'clock and House was still in his office. His team had already gone home as the case was solved. House himself would have also gone home except he knew that he had to wait to hear from HR. If he left he knew that it would upset Cuddy and his goal at the moment was to not upset her. At least for a few months anyway.

Instead of going home, he sat at his desk and threw his large ball into the air before catching it again and again. He almost didn't notice Max coming into the room.

"I come bearing gifts," Max announced.

House stopped throwing the ball and turned to her. In her hands, she held some papers. He frowned as she placed them in front of him.

"And when I say 'gifts' I mean annoying paperwork."

"Yep, got that," House said with a nod. He pulled the papers towards him and flipped through them briefly then he looked up at Max with one eyebrow raised. "Do I need to actually read through this?"

Max shook her head. "Nah. I already did. It's pretty basic. You can't act out if things between you and Cuddy get 'too personal' and you have to let the hospital know if your relationship changes in any way. It's pretty basic."

"You and Cuddy signed yours?" House asked.

"About half an hour ago," Max replied. "She actually read the thing over twice."

House nodded, not expecting anything else from Cuddy. He reached across his desk and grabbed the nearest pen. Then he flipped to the last page of the contract and scribbled his signature. He lifted the papers and waved them in front of Max.

"There all done." He announced. "Now can I go home?"

Max shrugged and smiled at him. "Hey do what you want. I'm not your boss."

House chuckled slightly as Max turned to head out of his office.

"Lunch tomorrow?" He asked as she reached the door.

Max turned back and shrugged one shoulder before saying, "I'll get back to you."

House smiled slightly.  
 **  
To Be Continued…**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Chase was standing at the nurse's station in the middle of the clinic. He placed a patient's file onto the counter and slid it across to the nurse who was sitting off to his left, giving her a smile as he did. He was just finishing off his clinic hours, which he was happy to do since they didn't have any cases at the moment.

"Chase!" he heard someone call out. He turned around and saw Max headed towards him.

"Ah, Hi," Chase replied. Despite himself, he couldn't help but smile.

Chase still had feelings for Max, and he still thought about that night they'd spent together…but he had tried to keep his distance from her. He knew that House was not happy about the fact that he and Max had been together, and Chase was…well, scared of his boss.

"Hi." Max smiled back. "Um, do you have a sec? to talk?"

Chase looked around nervously. He really was scared of House. Max tried hard not to smile at that fact because it was actually sweet. It was a bit pathetic, but still sweet.

"S-sure." Chase stammered with a quick nod.

Together, they took a few steps away from the nurse's station and out of earshot of any ease droppers. Once they were sure that they could have a private conversation, Max turned around to face Chase. 

"Look, Chase, um, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry…again," Max began, keeping her voice soft. "For, you know, using you before. I don't usually do that." She paused and shook her head rapidly and chuckled. "Actually that's not true." She bit her bottom lip and tilted her head to the side before seriously saying, "But I am sorry. It wasn't fair to you. I was just…angry that night."

"That's ok," Chase said quickly.

He was starting to get really uncomfortable having this conversation in the hospital where his boss – where her Father worked. He had to keep focus so that he kept looking at Max's eyes instead of turning his head to look around for House.

"It's not," Max said with a sigh. "You're a good guy Chase. A really good guy actually. I haven't exactly had a _'good guy'_ in a while. So even though I used you that night, I really do appreciate you being there for me. So thank you."

Max gave him a genuine smile and placed a gentle hand on his forearm. Chase couldn't help but smile.

"Anytime," Chase said then his eyes grew wide as he realized what he had said.

Max lowered her hand and grinned.

"I thought you'd say that," She said as she stepped back and folded her arms over her chest happily. "How about lunch one day? Or dinner? Either is good."

"Oh, I ah…" Chase began but didn't really know what to say. He liked Max. He really liked Max but he knew she was 'off limits' now. "I don't think—"

"-What? That you should date me because House is my father?" Max asked, trying to keep the amusement out of her voice. "Seriously? That's ridiculous."

"N-no. I just think because we work together..." Chase tried to lie but he knew that Max saw right through him.

"Tell me," Max began softly. "If House wasn't my father, would you ask me out?"

Chase looked at her for a moment before he sighed and looked down slightly before nodding.

"I knew it!" Max said, almost loud enough to get attention from people walking past.

When Chase looked back up at Max, he was surprised to see that she was smirking.

"What?" He asked in confusion.

"You're going to ask me out." She stated matter-of-factly.

"No I can't, I—" Chase began.

Max held a hand up to stop him from talking and then she leaned in ever so slightly. "Oh, you'll ask me out. And I'll tell you why – because I like you, and I know that you like me. And despite whoever my parent's are…eventually you will ask me out again."

"How do you know that?" He asked her. "How can you be so sure?"

Max smiled and leaned closer to him until she was a breath away from his ear. Then she whispered, "Because the power of boners is much stronger than the power of fear."

She then stepped back with a sly smile and a knowing look in her eyes.

"See you later, Chase."

Chase stared at her as he watched her walk away, her hips swinging slightly. His mouth was slightly opened. He licked his lips briefly and then looked around quickly. A few of the nurses looked at him but most likely because he was still standing there.

He carefully cleared his throat and then started walking towards the elevators.

 ** _**House MD**_**

Unbeknownst to the two young people down in the clinic, House was standing on the balcony of the floor above them and was looking down at them. A look of annoyance across his features. He did not like how close Max was standing to Chase. 

"They look cozy." Came a voice from behind him.

House whipped his head around to see Wilson standing one step behind him. He narrowed his eyes at the other man as he watched Wilson move to stand beside him. He had a smile on his face.

"No, they don't." House snapped before turning his head back to look down at the clinic.

"I think they do," Wilson said with a knowing nod. He had to admit that seeing House get so annoyed and angry was actually kind of fun. He was gonna have some fun with it. "You think they're going to hook up again?" 

"No!" House hissed. He paused before turning his attention to his friend. "What do you mean 'again'? Who told you?"

"Foreman," Wilson replied. "He thought it was pretty funny." He added with a slight chuckle. "So do I actually."

"It is not funny."

"It really is," Wilson said with amusement. He looked back down in time to see Max walk away from Chase with a broad smile on her face. "Hey!" He said suddenly, a wicked smirk on his face. "Maybe they'll start dating. Ooh maybe they'll get married, then Chase would be your son-in-law. He could start calling you dad! – OW!"

House had lifted his cane up and had used it to hit Wilson on the shoulder. House lowered his cane and narrowed his eyes angrily at his friend. Wilson began rubbing his shoulder but he was also finding it hard not to laugh.

"Hey," Wilson began with a shrug. "I'm just saying."

"You are so annoying!" House snapped before he turned around. "Don't you have somewhere else to be? A patient to tell that they are dying or something?"

"Nope," Wilson smirked. "I'd much rather continue our conversation."

House groaned loudly and tried to walk as quickly as he could away from Wilson. It didn't work of course as he had a limp and Wilson had two fully functioning legs.

As he walked, House did his best to ignore Wilson and his constant babbling about the relationship between Max and Chase. House didn't want to think about Max in a relationship, and he especially did not want to think about her in a relationship with Chase. Of all the people she could have chosen – why Chase?

He knew that for now, Chase was still getting used to the fact that Max was, in fact, his boss's daughter, and that had scared him off, but he knew that sooner or later Chase would get over it and would probably ask Max out again. If she didn't ask him out first.

House decided that the best thing he could do was to keep Chase as busy as possible with work. If he didn't have time for a social life then he wouldn't be able to date House's daughter.

 **To Be Continued…**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Two days later, House and his team were had just finished with their latest patient. It had been a simple case, and House was able to diagnose the patient rather quickly once they had all the information. So not what House would call a 'good case' because it wasn't very challenging.

Now that he had nothing to do, House was sitting in his office playing solitaire on his computer. He knew he could offer to help out in the clinic… but then again he could also jump off the balcony to see if he could fly, neither of which was going to happen anytime soon.

He barely looked up from his computer as he heard the voices of Chase and Foreman coming from down the hall as they came closer to the office. It wasn't until he heard Max's name that his interest peaked and he turned his head slightly. Just enough to focus on the younger doctors but not enough that they would think he wasn't still looking at the computer.

"So you're finally got over your fear and asked Max out?" Foreman asked.

"More like, she kept asking and I gave in," Chase replied with a small smile. "I like her. We're having lunch in the cafeteria."

"You're heading into dangerous waters. She's still House's daughter."

"But he's only been in her life for a few months, or I mean he's known about being her father for a few months. So I should be ok. Right?"

"Keep telling yourself that." Foreman quipped as they entered the office.

Both men stopped their conversation as they walked in. Chase looked over at his House and was glad to see that his boss was busy playing computer games.

What he didn't know was that House had been listening and was, in fact, trying very hard to keep his face straight. However, his mind was ticking over as he started thinking of a plan.

"You need us for anything?" Foreman asked suddenly.

House finally snapped his head around to look at them.

"Where's Cameron?" He asked.

"She said something about heading to the ER," Chase replied.

"So?" Foreman asked, looking at House. "Need anything or can we find something else to do?"

House paused before looking at them seriously. "I need one of you to go over our department's budget reports from the last two years."

"What?" Chase almost yelled.

"Why?" asked Foreman. "You don't care about that stuff."

"I need to make sure that it's all correct, for Cuddy." House lied while keeping a straight face. "Don't want her getting stressed now do we?"

Foreman and Chase both looked at each other before turning back to House.

"If you're so worried about it why don't you do it?" Foreman asked.

House leaned back in his chair and smirked slightly. "That's one of the best bits of being the boss. The power to delegate." He paused, sat back up and pointed his cane towards the two men. "Now who will it be? Eanie meanie miney…" House started to chant as he moved the cane between the two men. He stopped at Chase and said "Mo! Looks like we have a winner."

"Oh come on," Chase whined. "I haven't even had lunch yet."

"Sucks to be you then doesn't it." Said House.

Chase groaned and then turned around and stomped out of the office.

Foreman turned around and gave House a curious look.

"What?" House asked, trying to pretend like he was innocent. "Go find something to do."

Foreman rolled his eyes before he also walked out. Of course, House didn't need the reports to be looked over. Hell, he didn't even know exactly where those reports where. That was never something he cared about. He just knew that if he kept Chase busy then there was less chance that Chase could meet up with Max.

 ** _**House MD**_**

It was two o'clock that afternoon when Max finally tracked down Chase. He was meant to have met her in the cafeteria for lunch an hour earlier but he never showed, and Max wasn't the type of girl to sit and wonder why. No instead she went looking for answers.

She found him alone in the DDX room next to House's office with some folders and files laid out in front of him. Max walked over to him and sat down in one of the vacant chairs at the table.

"So," She began and waited for him to look up at her. "What happened to lunch?" 

Chase frowned apologetically at her. "Sorry. I have to do these reports."

Max grabbed one of the folders and quickly flipped through the pages. "Ah, I'm pretty sure all this stuff is already sorted out. So why are you doing it?"

"Cuddy needs it done."

"No, she doesn't," Max said with a half scoffed.

Chase looked at her for a moment and then looked down at the paperwork before looking back at her. "Are you sure?" He asked.

"Please, I'm Cuddy's assistant. If she wanted budget reports to be looked at I'd know about it."

"Then why am I?... House said…."

Max's eyes suddenly narrowed and she folded her arms over her chest. "What _exactly_ did House say?"

Chase thought for a moment before slowly saying, "He said that the last few years budget reports needed to be looked at for Cuddy. He mentioned not making her stress."

Max looked at him and arched one of her eyebrows.

"You're saying that's not true?" Chase asked.

"Not even a little bit," Max replied. Then she rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I bet he's just acting like a jerk because he knew we were going to have lunch together."

"R-really?" Chase asked in shock. "How did he know?"

"Please don't tell me you are still scared of him?"

"I-"

"-Look, I'll deal with House," Max told him firmly as she stood up. "He has to learn that he can't mess with my personal life."

"What are you going to do?"

Max looked down at him and only gave a half shrug as a response. Then she leaned across the table and kissed his cheek gently before standing back up and walking out.

Chase watched her go and knew that this was probably going to end badly for him, but on the other hand, he had to admit that seeing Max determined to stand up to House was a bit of a turn on.

He didn't want to have feelings for Max. Not having any would certainly make his working life a little easier and less complicated. He couldn't help it though. He couldn't stop thinking about her and the fact that she was House's daughter was just one obstacle and eventually, he would get over that. 

Now, though he wished he could be a fly on the wall as Max confronted House. Chase knew of only two other people who did that. Cuddy and Wilson. Guess he could now add Max to the list.

 ** _**House MD**_**

House was half lying on the couch in Wilson's office with a smug look on his face. His cane being twirled in one of his hands.

Wilson was sitting at his desk trying to write some notes while ignoring the other man, who had made himself at home despite being told to go away.

The door swung open quickly and Wilson looked up, half expecting to see Cuddy but was surprised when he saw Max storming in with a determined look on her face. Before Wilson could open his mouth, Max turned and walked to House before stopping in front of him and glaring down at him.

House stopped twirling his cane and frowned.

"What?" He asked.

"Oh don't ' _what'_ me." Max snapped. "You know _'what'_. Stop giving Chase pointless unnecessary work to do just to try to keep him from going out with me. It's not going to work."

"What?" Wilson asked but was ignored by both House and Max.

House sat up slightly. "If it's not going to work then why do you care?" He asked. "Not that I'm admitting to anything." He added quickly.

Max folded her arms over her chest, a gesture that made her look so much like her mother. It was another thing that had House questioning his own intelligence for not figuring out who Max was sooner.

"Remember when I said you couldn't stop me from dating anyone? Well, what I actually meant was – you have no right to stop me from dating anyone."

"I'm not stopping you from doing anything," House said calmly. "All I've done is give _my_ employee some work to do. If that happens to cut into his personal life then that's too bad." 

As House sat watching Max, he tried very hard not to smirk at how his plan was working out. Though a part of him felt…strange to have Max angry at him. Another part was actually proud of how she was fighting him back.

"It's not fair on Chase and you know it." Said Max. "So knock it off or else."

House looked at her quizzically with one raised eyebrow. "Or else what?" He asked, slightly amused.

"Or else it's on."

With those words, Max turned and headed towards the door again. Just as she got to the doorway House called out to her.

"It's on?" He asked.

Max paused and looked at him over her shoulder before replying "Oh, it's on."

Then she walked out.

House turned and looked at Wilson who was looking just as confused as he himself was feeling. Wilson turned to House and could only offer a slight shrug at what had just happened.

 **To Be Continued…**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Notes:** _This chapter was meant to be longer but instead I decided to split it up. I am doing this to give a little bit of an update as I write the rest of the chapter (now chapter six)_ ****

 **Chapter Five**

The next morning, House walked into the hospital feeling a little more than a pleased with himself. He hadn't heard from Max about the whole 'Chase' issue since she had found him in Wilson's office. He had expected her 'come back' to have happened last night. When it hadn't he knew that she was most likely all talk. 

He was a little disappointed when nothing happened. Not that he liked being the subject of a prank or joke, but its nice when you are playing against an equal and House didn't have many equals. At least he didn't think so. He had expected Max to lash out in some way, or at the very least to go tell Cuddy. She did neither.

House walked past the nurse's station of the clinic and grabbed a red lollipop out of the jar before he continued walking. He was about to open his lolly when Wilson suddenly walked up beside him.

"So?" Wilson began to ask as the two men made their way to the elevator. "Any backlash yet? From Max, I mean."

"Nope," House replied shortly.

"You think she was just all talk?"

House looked at his friend for a moment and answered with a quick gesture that was both a nod and a shrug at the same time. The elevator doors then opened and both men stepped inside.

"I don't know," Wilson said after a pause. "I mean, this is the girl who spent months lying about who she was just so she could get closer to you and Cuddy."

"And?" House asked. His voice slightly raised as if he was preparing to lash out. Which he was if Wilson was about to say anything negative about Max.

"And, I'm just saying, I wouldn't underestimate her if I were you."

It was then that the elevator doors opened again. House's mouth twitched up into the slightest of smiles before it disappeared as he watched Wilson walk out and head to his office. House then followed him and made his way to his own office.

 ** _**House MD**_**

When House walked into his office he saw his entire team sitting at in the DDX room, with takeaway coffee cups in front of them. He frowned when he saw Cameron standing in front of the whiteboard while holding a marker in her hand.

House walked into the room suddenly, causing the door to bang against the wall and making all three younger doctors jump slightly.

Foreman recovered first. "We have a case."

"And that's a reason to be playing with daddy's stuff?" House asked as he walked over to Cameron.

"I was just—" Cameron began as House snatched the marker out of her hand.

She didn't finish though, as House stepped past her and stood in front of the whiteboard before waving her off with his hand. He didn't see Cameron roll her eyes as she walked over to the table and joined Foreman and Chase.

House quickly studied the symptoms on the board that Cameron had written. Then he turned around to his team.

"Okay, give me the patient's file." He ordered, clicking his fingers repeatedly.

Foreman stood and handed House the file before sitting back down. House quickly looked over a few pages, while glancing back at the whiteboard. It looked like his team had actually done a good job so far. Not that he would ever tell them that of course.

"Ok," He said after a minute. "What's our next step?"

"Get a complete blood work done." Said Foreman.

"We should also get a full family history if we can." Added Chase.

House tossed the file back onto the table and then waved his hand flippantly at the younger doctors.

"Well, go to that." He said. "Cameron you and Chase get the history. Foreman, you get the bloods done."

House then took the lollipop he had grabbed earlier out of his pocket and took off the plastic wrapper before placing the lolly into his mouth. He sucked on it for a second when his eyes suddenly grew wide. His tongue started to tingle and burn as if he had taken a bite out of an extremely hot pepper. With great force, he spat the lollypop out of his mouth making it land across the room, almost hitting Cameron's feet.

"What the hell, House?" Cameron yelled in disgust.

House ignored her and instead he moved quickly to the table and grabbed the first cup he could and drank it down quickly.

"Hey!" exclaimed Foreman, as it was his coffee that House had grabbed.

House continued to ignore his team as he threw the first cup, now empty, over his shoulder before he grabbed the next one.

"House? What are you doing?" Came a voice from the doorway.

Cameron, Foreman, and Chase turned around to see Wilson standing there. His expression of confusion matched their own. House continued to ignore him as he finished his second cup of coffee rather quickly.

Finally, House managed to ease the burning sensation in his mouth. He blinked a few times before realized that the four other people in the room were all staring at him. He straightened up and glared at them.

"Don't you all have something to do?" He snapped at his team.

"But-" Cameron began, a look of confusion still on her face.

"-Now would be good," House said shortly.

The younger doctor's all knew better than to stay and argue with him, so instead, they shared a look before retreating out of the DDX room. Once they left, Wilson moved towards his friend with a slightly worried expression on his face.

"What just happened?" Wilson asked.

"Since when does the hospital offer children extremely spicy flavored lollipops?" House asked before he walked over to the lollipop on the ground. Carefully he grabbed the very bottom of the stick and picked the offending object up off the floor.

"Huh? House, what are you talking about?"

"This!" House said, waving the lolly in front of Wilson's face.

Wilson raised his own hands in front of his face with a look of disgust. "That's a spicy flavored lollipop?"

House didn't answer and instead, he rolled his eyes. Then he limped into his office and threw the lolly into the small wastebasket in the corner. Wilson followed him straight away.

"Maybe the nurses finally got sick and tired of you stealing the lollipops from them," Wilson suggested with a slight tilt of his head.

"Bit dangerous, and they are meant for everyone."

"I'm pretty sure they are meant for _children_ who come into the clinic," Wilson said back. "Not children in a grown man's body."

"Either way," House began as he took a seat behind his desk. "Since when do the nurse's care that much…." His voice suddenly trailed off as a thought occurred to him.

"What?" Wilson asked after a short pause. He slowly made his way towards House's desk.

House ignored him and instead he grabbed the phone from its cradle. He brought the receiver to his ear with one hand and dialed a number with his other.

"Ah, House?" Wilson asked.

Once again, House ignored him. He then placed the phone back into its cradle and then hit the button to put the call on speaker. It rang one and a half times before the person on the other end answered.

"Good morning, Doctor Cuddy's office." Came Max's cheery voice. "Max speaking."

"Been anywhere near the nurse's station in the clinic this morning?" House asked her, not bothering to announce that he was the one who was calling.

"House?-" Wilson began but Max cut him off.

"Having an _interesting_ morning are we Doctor House?" Max asked, and House could hear the smirk in her tone.

"You think you're pretty clever don't you?" House asked. His tone held hints of annoyance but also hints of pride and amusement. 

"Oh, I think I'm brilliant," Max said cheerily, cockily.

"So this is your version of _'it's on'_?" House asked. "Because it was pretty lame."

"Firstly, I don't know what you're talking about." Came Max's replied through the phone. "Secondly, if I did know, I would say that this was just the beginning. Unless, of course, you're willing to admit defeat?"

House narrowed his eyes slightly, even though Max couldn't see him. He leaned in closer to the phone and said in a low tone, "You don't know who you're messing with little girl."

Without missing a beat, Max replied, "Bring it on old man."

Then the room filled with the familiar noise of a dial tone after Max had hung up on her end. After a moment, House reached out and pressed the button to end the call. Then he leaned back in his chair. His mind thinking as he tried to suppress a smirk.

 **To Be Continued…**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter six**

It had turned into one of those days at the hospital that people would be talking about for years to come. It wasn't so much that the events happening were out in the public, but it wasn't long before word got around about what was happening. It would forever be known as the day of the mini prank war between Doctor House and Doctor Cuddy's assistant Max. What made the whole thing even more worthy of gossip was the fact that not only was Max Cuddy's assistant, but she was also House's daughter.

The information about Max being the biological daughter of House and Cuddy and spread rather quickly. Which meant that now it was very common to go down the halls of the PPTH and hear the names of House, Cuddy, and Max being spoken.

Today's little prank war had started with Max getting the nurses in the clinic to place a different jar of lollipops on their station just before House came over to them, and then placing the original back on after he left.

This lead to House getting an extremely spicy lollipop. House in turn then came back by having Chase go to their patient's house and go through his trash all by himself. The reason for this was because this entire thing had started because of House making Chase do unnecessary tasks. So now the day went on with House getting Chase to do things that were beneath his skills, and then having Max pull a little prank on House.

Poor Chase felt like he was in the middle (which he was) but he also didn't know what do to. He didn't want to argue with House and make things worse for himself. At least he was still being included in the case. He was just getting the crappy jobs that came with it while Foreman and Cameron got to do the more 'glamorous' part of the treatment.

After finding out about Chase's trash duty, Max had somehow managed to enter House's office while he was out and spray painted his desk and office chair a bright pink colour. How she managed to do this without being caught House would never know. After that, House had Chase give the patient (a 45-year-old man) a sponge bath in order to check for bites or ticks. This was something that a nurse could have done.

So now it was late in the afternoon, and House was sitting in his newly cleaned office. The pink was long gone as House had hired a professional cleaning company to do it and paid for it out of his own pocket instead of charging the hospital as he would normally do, but he didn't think Cuddy's stress levels could take it. The office now smelled strongly of cleaning product.

So, House was now sitting in his chair, trying to think of what other annoying things he could get Chase to do. Their patient and been cured and was now in recovery so they didn't have anything else left with that to do. Right now, Chase was currently going through a stack of old case files even though there was no need to do so. House was sure that this would lead to Max pulling another prank. Which was why he wanted to think of his next move. To stay one step ahead.

It was while House was thinking that Max walked into his office. She walked over to his desk and folded her arms over her chest while narrowing her eyes slightly.

"You don't learn do you?" She asked.

House looked up at her with a fake look of puzzlement on his face. He had to admit that he was enjoying himself with all of this.

"Don't know what you mean." He replied, trying to sound innocent when he clearly wasn't.

"Oh really?" She asked. "So where's Chase right now? Doing important work I bet."

"This is a hospital," House said with a small smirk. "All work here is important."

"Yes," Max laughed slightly. "Which is why you are always super keen to do your clinic hours."

House leaned back in his chair as he tried to fight back the amused smirk that threatened to develop his face.

Max sighed before sitting down in one of the chairs in front of him. She ran one hand through her hair quickly.

"This is getting ridiculous." She said with a serious deep sigh.

"Calling it quits?" He asked. "Or simply run out of ideas on what to do next?"

Max smiled slightly and said, "Who says I haven't already done something else?"

House opened his mouth to say something but Max quickly interrupted him.

"It really doesn't matter anyway." She told him, her tone serious again. "If I wanna see Chase in a non-professional way then I will. You can't stop me, nor do you have the right to stop me."

"I don't care who you date." House snapped. "If you wanna date a poor Aussie version of me then go ahead."

Max chuckled and shook her head. "You think Chase is another version of you?"

"No," House replied quickly.

"I'm so telling Chase." Max laughed. "I think that might be a compliment."

House glared at her. "You—"

Before he could finish his thought, the door to his office swung open and in stormed Cuddy. She looked furious as she stopped and stood sternly in front of them.

"My office. NOW!" She hissed.

House cast his eyes down slightly. While this whole little 'war' with Max was fun, he had forgotten what kind of issues it could cause Cuddy, what with all the extra gossip around the hospital and all. He slowly stood up and grabbed his cane.

Cuddy started to walk out as House moved around his desk to follow her.

"Ooh someone's in trouuuuble." Max drawled out with a smile.

"You too Max!" Cuddy shouted as she walked out of the room.

"Oh man." Max breathed out before she stood up.

House grinned cheekily and whispered, "Looks like I'm not the only one in trouuuuble."

Max rolled her eyes before she followed her mother out.

 ** _**House MD**_**

House and Max were sitting in the two chairs in front of Cuddy's desk while she sat in front of them. Her expression was stern. House was reminded of the feeling you get as a child when you get called into the principal's office. He quickly glanced at Max and wondered if she was thinking the same thing.

After a moment of silence, Cuddy finally spoke.

"Do you two have anything to say for yourself?" She asked slowly.

Max bit her lip slightly and turned her head just enough to look at House. He in turn also looked at her.

"Well?" Cuddy asked, irritated.

House turned back to Cuddy and said, "She started it."

"What?" Max asked. Half shocked, half amused. She turned to face him fully. "If anything you started it."

"Lollipop," House replied shortly.

"Ah budget reports," Max replied, mimicking his tone.

"Ah—" House began.

"—Enough!" Cuddy snapped. Her hands in the air in frustration. "What exactly has been going on in my hospital?" She demanded.

"He's been making Chase do ridiculous extra work just to try and stop us from going on a date," Max replied quickly. "Because he's somehow gotten it into his head that he can control who I date."

"All I did was give my team member some extra work, as you put it," House replied. He tried to act innocent though he knew neither woman believed his act. "She's the one who decided to pull childish pranks in a place of business."

"Because childish pranks are so beneath you House," Max said while rolling her eyes.

"Whatever is happening," Cuddy said suddenly. "It ends now. I will not have my hospital turned into a circus because you two are having a disagreement. Am I understood?"

House looked down briefly before meeting Cuddy's eyes. He was beginning to feel guilty about stressing her out.

"Yes," Max said quietly.

House followed her lead and answered, "Sure."

"Sorry Cuddy," Max said.

Cuddy sighed and nodded her head. Her whole body relaxed a little.

"Thank you," Cuddy said with another sigh. "Max, there are some emails that I need you to go over."

Max quickly glanced at House and then back at Cuddy with a nod. Max knew that she had gotten off pretty lightly. It wouldn't have been unreasonable for Cuddy to yell at them some more and the fact that she didn't mean that Max knew she'd gotten off lightly and she didn't want to push her luck.

She slowly stood from her chair with one last smile and then headed towards the door.

As Max got to the door, she heard House push his own chair back and then heard Cuddy's voice.

"House, you stay," Cuddy said firmly.

"But-" House began to protest.

Max couldn't help but grin as she left the office and closed the door.  
 ** _  
**House MD**_**

House looked at Cuddy as she sat behind her desk. They had remained silent for several moments after Max had left. House could tell that there was a lot more that Cuddy wanted to say to him and that she was just trying to find the right words to say.

Has he watched her, he couldn't help but notice how different her body had changed due to her pregnancy. Her boobs were looking fuller and bigger than they had before. Only slightly but if you were House you'd notice these sorts of things…especially with Cuddy. He couldn't see her stomach as the desk obstructed his view but he knew that there was a little bump there.

Even though the pregnancy was no longer a secret, Cuddy still tried to hide her bump slightly. House doubted it was because she was ashamed or anything like that. It was most likely to her wanting to seem more professional.

Finally, Cuddy sighed and shook her head, "House," she began.

"Hey, for once it wasn't all my fault," House said, raising his hands slightly.

Cuddy looked at him. Her eyes full of emotion.

"House, I'm used to you pulling pranks." Cuddy began. "Heck, I've been on the end of a few of them. But, Max…"

"Technically, Max was the one doing the pranks this time," House said quickly. "I didn't even prank her back. So… shouldn't I get points for that?"

"Why do you have to upset Max?" Cuddy asked suddenly, her tone almost pleading.

"Cuddy, I think Max is far from upset."

"But what if she's not? What if she decides to pull back from us? From…" Cuddy paused and trailed off. "We just found her. I don't want…"

House's expression softened as he understood what Cuddy was worried about.

"Cuddy," House said slowly. In that way that cut straight through her. "I'd never do anything to jeopardize our relationship with Max. Your relationship with Max. But Max is more like you than you think."

"Meaning?" Cuddy asked softly.

House's mouth twitched into a slight grin. "Meaning she's tough and she fights back. Just like her mother. But she can also be a stubborn pain in the ass."

"Just like her father," Cuddy said with a small smile.

"Yeah." House agreed. "So don't worry ok. Don't stress. Ok?"

Cuddy nodded slowly. Perhaps she was letting her hormones do most of the thinking. She should have known that House wouldn't do anything to deliberately push Max away.

"Ok." She agreed.

House nodded and after a short pause when he was sure the conversation was over, he stood up and moved towards the door.

"Oh, and House," Cuddy called after him. When he turned around she said, "You have 2 extra hours in the clinic."

"That's not fair." He whined. "Max was the one pulling the pranks."

"She's not a doctor. I can't really have her in the clinic."

House narrowed his eyes in a glare. "That's favouritism."

"Maybe…" Cuddy replied with a short shrug.

House placed a hand over his heart and pouted. "I'm hurt. Is this what it's going to be like from now on? You and Max against me? And when that one comes along too?" He pointed his cane briefly in her direction, letting her know that he was referring to their unborn baby. "Girls sticking together and all that crap."

Cuddy smirked, "Bye House."

 ** _**House MD**_**

When House left Cuddy's office, he saw that Max was already working on her computer. Most likely replying to emails.

"So, what's your punishment?" Max asked, not looking up from her computer screen.

"Clinic duty."

"Bummer."

House limped towards her and said, "I like how you're the one who pulls pranks and yet I'm the one who gets in trouble."

Max grinned, "I like it too."

There was a small stretch of silence before House's whole demeanour turned serious.

"Are you looking for an apology?" He asked.

"No," Max shook her head slightly. She took a deep breath and continued. "if anything… I should probably be the one to say sorry."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Max nodded and bit her lower lip slightly. "I may have gotten carried away, and even though you were acting like a complete moron. I'll admit that my reaction wasn't the most mature it could have been."

House nodded in agreement, "No it wasn't"

"It's just… sometimes I have a tendency to act before I think. Especially when I get upset or angry. So… I'm sorry."

House looked at her for a moment and smiled. Even though he had known her for a while now, it still amazed him at how beautiful and smart she was. So much like her mother.

Suddenly a thought occurred to him as he remembered something.

"Like the night you trashed my apartment?" He asked suddenly, raising one eyebrow.

Max bit her lip again and looked down briefly. When she looked back up and shrugged.

"Thought you forgot about that." She said in a soft tone.

"Almost did," House replied. "So it was you? Even though Cuddy gave you an alibi?"

"Yes and again another example of me acting before thinking. I have more. Examples that is." She tried to joke.

"Seeing as you and I didn't really know each other back then," House began. "Wanna tell me what I did to make you try your hand and break and entering?"

Max sighed deeply before she answered. "I came by Cuddy's office one night to see if she wanted to grab a coffee or something. And I heard you talk about how you didn't want the kid you two had together-"

House's face fell slightly. He remembered that conversation all too well. He remembered the hurt and shocked expression in Cuddy's eyes. He remembered the words he had said. He remembered feeling like crap the next day for being such a jerk.

"I didn't know it was you I was talking about." He said quietly.

"I know. Rationally I did know that. I just have anger issues." Max honestly replied.

"And I didn't mean it."

"I know," Max said with a small nod. "I know that now."

"So… we're good?"

"Yeah." Max agreed. "We're good."

She smiled and House couldn't help but smile back. He nodded and then turned towards the door.

"Oh, and House," Max called. "I win." She said with a grin.

House looked amused, "What makes you think that?"

"Because I got the last laugh – or, well the last move in the game."

"I think you need your memory checked. 'Cause I'm pretty sure I already had Chase doing stuff which means that you still owe me a prank. So if anything, I won."

Max leaned back in her chair and folded her arms with a knowing smile on her face. She briefly looked down at his cane and then back up.

"Try letting go of your cane Dr House." She said.

House's own smile faded as he looked down at his hand that was holding his cane. It was then that he realised that since coming to Cuddy's office, he hadn't actually let go of his cane. He tried to pull his fingers from the wood but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't pull them away.

His eyes grew wide in shock and disbelief. "Nooooo?" He drawled out.

When he looked back up at Max he saw that she was grinning and holding a small tube of super glue between her fingers.

Max grinned proudly, "I won!"  
 **  
To Be Continued…**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter seven**

House was sitting on the floor of his office, his back against the glass wall. A few feet in front of him was his whiteboard with a list of symptoms and potential diagnoses. This new case had him really stumped. His team was currently looking through the patient's home to check if there was any information there that could help them solve this mystery.

He was playing the symptoms over and over in his head as he bounced his big ball on the floor. It was then that he heard footsteps coming towards him. He looked up briefly to see Max standing beside him.

"Hey, House." She said softly.

"Hey." He replied.

"Any breakthrough?" Max asked, tilting her head in the direction of the whiteboard.

House shook his head and stopped bouncing the ball. "Don't suppose you have any opinions?"

Max turned to read the information on the whiteboard. Then she sighed and shook her head. "Nothing that you haven't already thought of."

House nodded once more. He continued to look at the whiteboard as he felt Max slide down the wall to sit next to him. Her shoulder bumped against his as she stretched her legs out in front of her.

"Where're the others?" Max asked after a short pause.

"Doesn't your boy toy keep in touch with you about his daily movements?"

She raised one eyebrow, "You do know that Chase is older than me right? If anything he'd be a sugar daddy."

House made a sound of disgust. Max and Chase had been "seeing" each other for a few weeks now. House didn't really know the full details of their relationship, and he didn't want to know either. Ignorance is bliss in this situation.

"Besides," Max continued. "Chase and I don't need to tell each other every little detail of our lives."

"Right," House said with a small nod. "They're at the patient's house."

"That makes sense."

Once again House nodded and turned back to the whiteboard. After a short pause, he asked, "So what brings you here? Shouldn't you be answering emails or something?"

Max smiled slightly. "Just passing on a message. Mum wanted you to know that her scans been moved to 1:15 this afternoon."

House turned his head to look at her slightly. A small smile barely gracing his features.

He wasn't sure when it had happened, or why it had happened. All he knew was that one day Max went from calling her mother Cuddy, to calling her Mum. He, of course, was still House. He didn't know exactly how he felt about that. Perhaps maybe there was just a stronger bond between Max and Cuddy as they were both women. Or maybe she didn't trust him enough to call him Dad yet. He didn't want to push the subject and he didn't know if he really wanted to know the answers.

"If you want to go that is." Max continued. "And if you're not busy with your patient."

"I'll be there." He replied. His voice soft but firm.

Even if the patient got worse, he would still find a way to be at that appointment to support Cuddy.

Max smiled and nodded. She placed a hand on his shoulder before she pushed herself up off the floor.

"Good luck with the case." She said as she straightened herself up.

"Yeah…"

 ** _**House MD**_**

It was 1:13 when House limped into the exam room where Cuddy was already laying on the table waiting for her obstetrician. Cuddy looked over when she saw him. A slightly surprised look on her face.

"What?" He asked as he reached behind him and closed the door.

"I – I didn't think you would come." She replied. "I thought, your case—"

"Patient's stable for now." He replied with a short shrug. "He's not going anywhere."

"If you need to leave-" She began to say.

"-I have my pager," House said interrupting her. She opened her mouth to say something but before she could make a sound he continued, "And yes it's on." He rolled his eyes.

"Ok." Cuddy nodded.

She watched as he moved to sit in a chair beside her bed. He slouched down slightly and stretched his legs out in front of him. He placed his cane across his lap and looked at the screen mounted on the wall in front of Cuddy's bed. The screen was blank.

"Shouldn't _Coke_ be here by now?" He asked impatiently.

" _Cooke_." Cuddy corrected with a sigh. It must have been the hundredth time she had corrected him on Dr. Cooke's name. She had no doubt he was doing in on purpose.

"Whatev-" House began but stopped as the door opened.

A woman in her early fifties with dark red hair entered the room. She was carrying a file in her arms. She smiled broadly at Cuddy and frowned slightly at House. Not that House cared of course. Cooke's reaction was to be expected. She had been seeing Cuddy ever since the pregnancy had become public knowledge and every chance he got, House would say something to undermined her or insult her abilities as a doctor. Truth be told, she probably was the best obstetrician PPTH had, but she wasn't him and therefore wasn't good enough to be looking after his child.

House had gotten better at holding his tongue though. After the last interaction between him and Cooke, Cuddy had warned him to pull it back a bit and even threatened to ban him from any further appointments.

"Hello, Dr Cuddy." Cooke greeted her patient warmly. "Dr House." She added with an off-handed tone.

House rolled his eyes and then saw Cuddy shoot him a warning glare.

"How are you feeling today?" Cooke asked Cuddy.

"Fine," Cuddy replied.

"No worries or concerns?" Cooke asked.

Cuddy shook her head.

"Ok then. Are you ready to see how your little girl is going today?"

"Yes," Cuddy said with a smile.

House turned his face back to screen on the wall but couldn't help looking at Cuddy out of the corner of his eyes. She was smiling as she pulled her top up to just under her breasts in order to give Cooke the best access to her stomach. Her stomach that was now displaying the perfect round little pregnancy bump.

House wasn't sure why, but he felt oddly proud knowing that it was his baby that had transformed her like this. Cuddy did look beautiful pregnant. Not that he would admit that to anyone.

"So this will be your twenty-week scan," Cooke said. It was a statement, not a question.

"Twenty-one weeks actually," Cuddy admitted. "We had to reschedule last week because—"

"—Because of the emergency in ER." Cooke finished. "Of course, I remember."

"Shouldn't that be something that you shouldn't forget?" House asked. "And shouldn't you know how far along your patient's pregnancy is?"

"House," Cuddy huffed as she shot him another warning look.

Cooke ignored him and instead she started to prepare Cuddy's stomach for the ultrasound. After a minute she was ready and she placed the small camera over Cuddy's stomach.

House turned his full attention back to the screen. He watched as the screen changed from black to a white and grey picture. Straight away the image of a baby filled the screen.

House mostly tuned out as Cooke went through all the measurements and information with Cuddy. He heard enough to know that everything was fine. Perfect even. He couldn't pay attention fully as he was too interested in the image on the screen.

House watched as the image of the baby on the screen kept moving her legs and arms around, making it hard for Cooke to get a proper image.

Cuddy laughed, "Stop showing off little girl."

House tried to suppress a smile at that comment. Trust his daughter to make things difficult where she could. He looked back over at Cuddy, who was grinning happily as she watched the screen in front of her. House started to wonder if her other pregnancy with Max had been like this. If she had been happy when she saw the ultrasound or if she had been too emotional due to the stress of the pregnancy and the situation with him. These were questions that he would never know the answers to because he would never ask. He was just glad that she was able to enjoy this pregnancy, even though their situation wasn't exactly 'normal'.

House was brought out of his thoughts when the screen suddenly went black once more. He blinked a few times, realizing that he had been so focused that he'd forgotten to blink. He then looked back over at Cuddy who was slowly sitting up and pulling her top back down.

"Well, everything looks perfect," Cooke said happily as she packed up her equipment. "Have you thought about your birth plan?" She asked Cuddy.

"Not really," Cuddy admitted. Other than giving birth in her hospital she hadn't had anything else planned. She wasn't one to care about smells, or sounds, or any of that. She knew that she'd just want her baby to be born happy and healthy.

"Will you have a support person with you?" Cooke asked. "Your mother?"

"No" Cuddy snapped forcefully.

She still hadn't spoken to her mother and she was pretty sure that she wouldn't be speaking to her anytime soon and there was no way she'd be in with her while she gave birth. Hell, she wasn't even about to let her mother anywhere near her baby at any time. Not after what she had done.

Before Cooke could say anything House interrupted her.

"I'll be there." He said.

Cuddy quickly turned to him. Her expression of surprise but only briefly. They hadn't discussed what would happen when she gave birth, though she should have known that he would want to be involved somehow.

"Only if that's what Dr Cuddy wants," Cooke told him.

"Pretty sure I have a right as _it's_ my kid too." House snapped back.

"It's fine," Cuddy said with a soft smile. "I-I want him there."

House looked at Cuddy. He wanted to smile back. He wanted to say thank you because he knew that she could deny him being at the birth if she really wanted too. They weren't a couple and even though their relationship – whatever it was – was good, it didn't give him the right to demand to be at the birth. So he was extremely grateful that she wanted him there.

"Okay," Cooke said with a nod. "Well, unless you have any other questions for me, I will go and schedule your next appointment."

"Thank you so much, Cooke," Cuddy said gratefully.

House didn't say anything and just watched as Cooke left. When he turned back to Cuddy he saw her frowning at him.

"What?" He asked. He knew 'what' but he was trying to act innocent.

"Could you try to be a bit nicer next time?" She asked.

"I was being nice." He said defensively.

Cuddy looked at him and scoffed.

"Well, nicer than I usually am." He said smugly.

"Cooke is a great doctor. She's the best we have."

"I'm the best we have."

"How very modest of you," Cuddy said while rolling her eyes. "I'm happy for you to be with me during my appointments, but you won't be the one doing the exams."

"Fine." House huffed.

"House," Cuddy sighed.

Just then House's pager went off. He pulled it from his belt and looked down. It was Foreman. Their patient was crashing.

"Everything alright?" Cuddy asked as she watched him stand up.

"Patient." He replied. "Gotta go."

And with that, he limped out of the room.

After he left, Cuddy let out a long sigh. Then she looked down, placed a hand on her stomach and smiled.

 ** _**House MD**_**

House hadn't been able to get home until after eight o'clock that night. His patient had gone from bad to worse. The patient had been legally dead for thirty seconds. Thankfully, House had one of his famous last-minute realizations and they were able to treat him. Now, the patient was in a comer but he was stable and unless something else happened he would be fine.

House was now sitting on his couch with a glass of scotch in his hand. Now that he didn't have to focus on his case anymore, he could think more about Cuddy and their baby. He was so relieved that everything was progressing ok and that there were no issues.

He thought about Cuddy's reaction to Cooke's question about her mother. He knew that Cuddy was still angry at her mother and that she may always be angry. He was glad of this because if Cuddy did decide to forgive her mother, well, he didn't think he ever could and would do whatever he could to keep Arlene Cuddy away from his daughter. From both of his daughters.

He tipped his head back and finished off the last of his scotch and then looked at the empty glass.

Thinking about Cuddy's mother made him realise that he hadn't spoken to his own mother for quite some time. He sighed deeply and pulled out his cell phone.

After four long rings, someone finally answered.

"Hi, mum," House said softly. "It's me….Everything's fine…Can you come for a visit?" He paused and closed his eyes briefly before saying, "There's someone I want you to meet."

 **To Be Continued…**


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Notes** ** _:_** _I haven't actually seen an episode of House in a long time. So when I planned this chapter I had only planned for House's mother to be in it and not his father. I forgot when House's father died. I realized that during this timeline his father would have been alive, but because I don't want him in the story…I have decided that he has already died. I'm also not sure if I've captured House's mother right either….Oh well._ **  
** **  
** **Chapter Eight**

It had been a few days since Cuddy had her last ultrasound. She had made a picture of the baby's profile her background on her computer, just so she could look at the image as often as she wanted. Even though if it was slightly distracting.

Today had been a relatively easy day in terms of her work schedule. She didn't have any meetings planned and she had just finished finalizing the last of the daily emails that she needed to respond to. Now with nothing to do, she thought about giving Max a call to see if she wanted to grab some coffee later. Because there wasn't much to do, Cuddy had told Max that she didn't have to stay at her desk. Cuddy wasn't sure, but she assumed that she was spending time with Chase.

Cuddy had to admit to herself that it was weird knowing that her daughter was dating one of her doctors, but she knew that Max was an adult and would make her own decisions. As far as she knew, Max and Chase weren't serious…yet. Max seemed happy when she was with Chase and that's really all that mattered to Cuddy.

Suddenly there was a soft knocking on her office door which pulled Cuddy from her thoughts.

"Come in," Cuddy called out.

Cuddy looked back at her computer screen with a smile. She heard her office door open and the footsteps of someone walking in.

"How can I help – " Cuddy began but then stopped abruptly when she saw who was standing in front of her. "Mrs- Mrs. House? What, um, how can I help you?" Cuddy asked, stuttering over her own words. "Are you looking for House?"

Cuddy quickly looked down at her stomach. She hadn't spoken to House about his mother or anyone in his family and she didn't know how much House had told his mother about everything. Or if he had told her anything at all. Cuddy didn't want her daughter's existence to be a secret, but she also didn't want to tell his mother what was going on instead of him being able to tell her himself.

"No, I actually came to see you." Blythe House answered.

Cuddy suddenly felt very nervous. She watched as Blythe's expression softened even more and her eyes misted with tears.

"Greg called me," Blythe said. She moved to sit down in one of the chairs in front of Cuddy's desk. "He told me about Max and about the baby you're expecting."

Cuddy's eyes grew wide for a brief moment. "Oh," She said softly, not really knowing what else to say.

Cuddy didn't know what she was supposed to say. Was House's mother looking for an explanation? Or some details? She didn't know how much House had told her. Cuddy chewed on her bottom lip nervously.

"I—" She began but Blythe spoke at the same time.

"Oh, Lisa, I'm so sorry," Blythe said with a sigh.

"What?" Cuddy asked, confused.

"Greg told me everything," Blythe admitted. Her tone a little sad. Almost as if she were guilty of something. "He told me about what your mother did. I'm sorry. That must have been awful."

Cuddy swallowed a sudden lump in her throat and nodded. Even though so much time had passed it was still emotional to think about what her mother had done.

"I wish I had known about the baby." Blythe continued. "The first baby. I know Greg would have done the right thing."

"I know he would have," Cuddy said suddenly. "I never – "

"-Oh, no dear. I didn't mean to accuse you of anything." Blythe said quickly. "I just… I wanted to you know that if things had been different, that I would have been there." Her eyes started to fill with tears again. "I would have loved that baby – I know I'll love her. Just like I will with this one when she's born. And I wanted you to know that whatever happens between you and my son, that I promise to be here for you and my granddaughters."

Cuddy watched as the older woman in front of her looked like she was about to cry. She felt her own tears forming and knew that it wouldn't be long before she herself started to cry as well. If she did she would blame her hormones.

"Blythe, I… Thank you."

Blythe smiled softly and Cuddy couldn't help but smile back. The two women looked at each other. An unspoken understanding settling between them.

Suddenly the office door opened again and Max strode into the room.

"Hey mum did you want—" Max began but stopped when she looked at Cuddy and saw the tears in her eyes. "What's going on?" She asked slowly.

Before Cuddy could say anything, Blythe turned around in her chair and then slowly stood up. Without a word she moved took a few steps towards Max and suddenly flung her arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug.

Max was startled and keeps her arms by her sides. She looked over at Cuddy in confusion. One eyebrow raised.

"Um… why is this woman hugging me?" Max whispered loudly.

Cuddy quickly wiped her eyes with the palm of her right hand and said, "Oh, Max this is Blythe House. House's mother."

Max's eyes grew wide in surprise. "Oh," She said with a sigh. "Awe." Then her entire body softened and she quickly brought her arms up to hug the woman back.

It felt extremely weird for Max to be standing and hugging her paternal grandmother, but also oddly comforting. Especially since she could tell from the hug that this woman was accepting her. Even before she really knew her.

After several long moments, Blythe pulled back and took a step back. She brought one hand up and quickly wiped away a few tears that had spilled down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry dear," Blythe told Max softly. "I didn't me to just spring on you like that."

"That ok," Max said with a small smile.

"It's just… You are so beautiful." Blythe said. Her eyes filled with pride and awe. "You look just like Lisa, but you have Greg's eyes."

Max grinned at the comment. "That's what everyone says."

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when you were growing up…"

"Oh, no that…" Max began and shook her head slightly. "Don't worry about it. It's not like it was your fault. It wasn't anyone's fault…" She paused and frowned. "Ok, it was _someone's_ fault…" She snapped angrily.

"Oh, Max," Cuddy sighed sadly.

Even though they had all known about each other for a while now, and Max and been getting to know her parents and they her, the subject of Cuddy's mother and what she had done was still a very sore topic for them all. They had not really spoken about her or what she had done.

Max turned to Cuddy and saw the guilt in her eyes and that upset her. She was starting to get a good idea of what type of person her mother was. How she thinks, how she feels and she knew that she was the type of person to feel great pains of guilt for things that other people did. She didn't want her mother to start getting upset, especially when she was pregnant.

"Hey!" Max exclaimed suddenly. She tried to sound as cheery as she could. "This is probably way too much emotion for the office, so… Oh, I know, how about we all do dinner? My place."

Blythe smiled warmly. "I would love that. Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," Max said with a grin. "I'd really like to get to know you, and maybe hear some embarrassing stories about House when he was a kid." She added the last bit with a bit of a laugh.

Cuddy couldn't help but chuckle slightly as she'd actually like to hear those stories too.

"What time would you like us there?" Blythe asked Max.

"Oh, say about 8.00," Max replied.

Max looked at her grandmother and her mother and grinned broadly.

 ** _**House MD**_**

Max had decided to find House and tell him about dinner herself. She'd left Cuddy's office after Blythe had said that she was leaving to do a few things before dinner.

When Max found House on the roof of the hospital. One of his favorite hiding spots, though it wasn't a good hiding spot as nearly everyone knew he came up here. He was leaning over the rails looking out at the view.

"Guess what you're doing tonight?" Max sang out loudly as she walked up behind him.

House turned and couldn't help his lips twitching slightly when he saw her.

"Well, judging by your tone," He began. "I'm guessing it's not drinking and watching the L word like I planned."

Max looked at him with a hint of curiosity as she arched one eyebrow.

"That seems like a weird thing to do with your mother while she's in town." She stated and then smiled when the realization of her words had sunk in.

House's own eyes widen for the briefest of moments. Then his face returned to its casual self.

"And how do you know that my mother is in town?" He asked.

Max smiled and folded her arms casually over her chest.

"I just saw her." She replied. "Down in mum's office. It looked like they were having a pretty intense heart-to-heart."

"Crap," House muttered under his breath.

After his phone call to his mother, she had come down straight away. Why wouldn't she? She had just found out that she had an adult granddaughter with another granddaughter on the way. She had been excited, curious, nervous and a million other things while she sat and listened to House's very long story.

There had been a lot of tears from his mother, which had made him very uncomfortable but House had managed to get through them. Once the information had sunk in and Blythe had gotten her head around everything she had asked to meet Max and to talk to Cuddy. House had promised that he would arrange for them all to meet but he wanted to talk to Max first to see what her thoughts were on the matter.

From what House knew about Max, she didn't always take kindly to having potentially high stressful and emotional situations thrown at her unexpectantly. So he had wanted to talk to her first. He just hadn't gotten around to it yet. Clearly, his mother had other ideas and couldn't wait.

"Yeah," Max sighed, bringing House out of his own thoughts.

"So?" He asked, waiting to see what her reaction to meeting his mother would be.

Max slowly began to smile which relaxed House's mind.

"She's nice," Max said. "Not like you at all." She joked.

House almost smirked at that comment.

"Did she ask you a thousand questions?" He asked.

"No. No, she just hugged me." Max admitted. "It was…weird. Invading…but, it was also nice. Like she just accepted me straight away…." She said the last bit in a softer voice.

Despite how tough she seemed, one of Max's biggest fears was being rejected by her family. It might have had something to do with being adopted, or it could have just been a primal thing. Either way, it was nice that her paternal grandmother wanted to get to know her.

House could see that the conversation was getting serious and so he tried to make it lighter once again. "You sure she didn't ask you any questions? She had a lot last night."

Max smiled. She knew exactly what he was trying to do and she was grateful for it.

"Oh, I'm sure she'll ask all the questions she wants tonight." She told him.

"Why?" He asked, suddenly very curious and intrigued. "What's happening tonight?"

"Dinner," Max answered. "My place. Me, you, my mum and your mum."

"Really?" House almost groaned.

As awkward family dinners went, this would be the most awkward. Sitting down for a meal with his mother, his recently found adult daughter and his boss slash women carrying his baby… He could think of a dozen things he'd rather be doing. Hell, he could think of anything else that would be more fun.

He was about to protest but stopped when he noticed the hint of a smile in Max's eyes. He then realized that she wanted this. She was probably as nervous as hell but she was also happy and excited. Plus, House supposed that his mother had the right to get to know her grandchild.

"Fine," He said with a deep annoyed sigh. "What time?"

Max grinned.

 ** _**House MD**_**

Later that afternoon, Max carefully knocked on the door of Wilson's office. He was sitting at his desk, signing some patient forms when he stopped and looked up.

"Come in." He called.

He was very surprised to see Max as she walked in. Like her father, Max had the reputation of not knocking.

"Hi, Wilson." She greeted him cheerfully.

Her tone put his guard up. Again, just like her father.

"What can I do for you?" He asked.

"How would you like a free, delicious meal with great company?" She asked.

"Whose company?" He asked slowly.

"Just House and myself…" She replied as she took a seat in front of him.

"Ah huh." Wilson nodded his head. "And?"

"And mum…and Blythe…"

"House's mum is here?" He asked, shocked. Then he shook his head and focused again. "And the four of you are going to have dinner together?"

"Yes."

"Seriously? Wow. That's gonna be…interesting."

"Interesting enough to make you wanna come too?" Max asked with a smile.

"No. Not even a little." Wilson replied quickly.

While it would be nice to watch his best friend squirm in that situation, Wilson also didn't want to be wrapped up in the drama and awkwardness.

"Please," Max said suddenly. The genuineness of her tone actually startled Wilson.

"Why?"

"Because it would be nice to have a buffer. You know, in case things get-"

"Intense?"

"I was gonna say weird," Max agreed with a shrug. "But yeah."

"Why don't you ask Chase?"

"I can't just ask Chase. That would add more weirdness to the situation." She replied while rolling her eyes. Then she paused and bit her bottom lip. "Besides," She began as she slowly pouted. "I already asked Chase and he said no."

Wilson had to hold back a laugh. "So why do you think I'll say yes?"

"To help your best friend out?" Max replied slowly.

Wilson shook his head. "Nope."

Max sighed deeply and folded her arms across her chest and leaned back against her chair heavily.

"Ok, then how about as a favour to your niece?" She asked.

Wilson frowned at her and raised one brow. "Since when are you, my niece?"

"Oh," Max gasped and placed one hand over her heart in a gesture of hurt.

Wilson could tell that she wasn't really hurt. He's seen House pull the same move a number of times to know sarcasm when he saw it.

"I'm hurt." Max lied with a pout.

"No, you're not," Wilson said with a slight shake of his head.

"Okay," Max began slowly. "So you're telling me that you aren't going to refer to yourself as 'Uncle Wilson' when my little sister is born? And she's not going to be your niece?"

"I—" Wilson stuttered.

In truth, he hadn't actually thought about that. Of course, he figured that he would take the role as 'Uncle Wilson' when House and Cuddy's baby was born. That was a given as he was House's best friend (some would say the only friend) and he was close with Cuddy as well.

He looked back at Max and let out a sigh. She grinned. She had won. He knew she had one. She knew she had won.

"Great." She said, her grin growing wider. "My place. 8.00"

 **To Be Continued…**


	9. Author's Notes

**Author's Notes** \- Hello everyone. Sorry to disappoint but this is not a chapter.

I just wanted to come by and let you all know that I am taking a break from this story for a while. We have recently suffered a tragedy and a loss of a loved one... So as you can imagine I am not as inspired to write as I use to be. Hopefully, I will feel like writing again soon. For now, just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has been waiting for an update.

I will be back to write when I can as I already have most of the remaining chapters and storylines worked out. All in plot points etc.


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